Fetch by Cinda Bauman

Fetch by Cinda Bauman

Meet Frankie & discover what happens next for Kylie and Joey

Frankie is great at pitching baseballs for a thirteen-year-old, but she's not so great at getting along with other kids or handling her anxiety, especially when she has to leave her home and the comfort of her room. Plus, there's the secret she has to keep, so no one at her new home in Montana finds out what happened with her former teammates in Nashville on the most mortifying day of her life.

In Montana, Frankie's doing a great job of keeping to herself with homeschool, preparations to welcome her baby brother, and avoiding her grandma's biting comments and memories of that awful day in Nashville. When Frankie decides to pitch her last baseball forever in the woods, she meets a mystery horse with an unusual talent. The woods also give her the chance to meet a boy named Joey who doesn't seem as frightening as most.

Joey introduces Frankie to his friends, Kylie and Olivia. After hanging out a few times, Frankie has a hard time believing that any kids can be this nice. Plus, they talk openly about going to church and building a therapeutic horse ranch at Kylie's house. They even talk about Kylie's mom's mental illness, but they also giggle about Joey eating too much and Olivia's crush. Frankie has never felt so welcome, so surprised, and so scared at the same time--what if her new friends discover how weird she is, and they don't want to be her friend anymore?

Frankie becomes more comfortable with her Montana life, while she manages to hold on to her secrets, even her bond with Fetch. Her baby brother arrives, and her grandma seems happy Frankie is finally making friends and going to Art Camp. Frankie might even have a crush of her own

But like all good things for Frankie with her anxiety, they start to unravel because she keeps making too many mistakes, and she would rather be by herself. Why can't everyone leave her alone? Except for Fetch--she wants to see him and his special talent.

Will Frankie learn to manage what happened in Nashville and trust people again? Frankie knows she is built differently than everyone else, but no one else seems to accept her as she is. Will she ever feel normal like other kids? If Frankie doesn't figure out the answers to these questions, she may wind up ruining the best friendships she's ever had and miss the opening of Captain's Quarters, too. This anxiety is real for Frankie--will she learn to handle it with the help of her new friends?